NDC et al advised to attend IPAC ‘with open heart and open mind’

The political parties against the compilation of a new register by the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) have been advised to approach the proposed dialogue with “open heart and open mind”. The EC was advised by the Eminent Advisory Committee led by retired Justice Francis Emile Short on Wednesday, after a crunch meeting, to dialogue with political parties further before implementing its decision to compile a new register. Some major political parties led by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have protested the move by the EC, saying it is not necessary and a waste of the country’s financial resources. Known together as Inter-Party Resistance Against a New Voters’ Register (IPRNA), the parties have already staged demonstrations in the Northern and North East regions. The next major one is expected to be held in the Ashanti Region on Tuesday, January 21. Before then, however, the parties are scheduled to meet the EC at the level of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) in the presence of the Eminent Advisory Committee. Speaking on The Key Points on TV3/3FM on Saturday, political analyst Jonathan Asante Otchere said parties should not approach the meeting – reportedly to be held on Monday – with entrenched positions. “I think we all have to go with an open heart and open mind,” Mr Asante Otchere advised. He said the EC should also remain open to views from the dissenting political parties. “I will entreat the EC that it may be broken but it is not spoilt.” He noted, however, that the intentions of the election management body could be right by the timing is wrong, fueling all the protests by the opposition parties. For him, the system that the EC has currently is not as bad as requiring replacements. By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|editors.3news.com|Ghana Follow @kwame_amoh